


Clean Up

by Ezcheez



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Not Beta Read, feelings are hard, friendship and also something more?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23946685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ezcheez/pseuds/Ezcheez
Summary: Poppy has a little too much to drink and Tora finds himself playing Babysitter.
Relationships: Poppy and Tora
Comments: 6
Kudos: 136





	Clean Up

**Author's Note:**

> Creative Content #1 Submission!
> 
> Ooh this was so much fun, y’all. 
> 
> All characters are loosely based off of Lilydusk’s webcomic Midnight Poppy Land. Check out her Patreon for more amazing content!

Tora’s hands gripped the steering wheel like a vice, the smoke from his cigarette swirling around him. He peeked at the wreck sprawled out in his back seat. Her hair splayed around her, some strands stuck to her glistening neck and chest. Her makeup, what little she wore, had all but worn off and her top lopsidedly hung about her body. 

_ How the fuck did I get roped into this shit? _

The night had started out innocently enough. Quincey wanted to go out for drinks to celebrate his new book contract, and that obviously meant that Tora would be there too. No big deal, Diva Supreme usually tired himself out pretty quickly and could be tempted out of a club with the promise of food, usually a hot bowl of ramen at some shitty little hole in the wall. Much to Tora’s dismay, on the drive there, Quincey let slip that he had invited  _ guests _ to join them. 

“Just a few close friends, honey!” Quincey patted his friend’s hand when he saw the surly scowl that darkened his handsome face. Tora hated guests more than he hated going out, but he knew he had little choice. He would just have to drink his strawberry juice in mute misery until Quincey had his fill. 

Lights and people danced wildly around the club while noisy music pulsed. Tora’s bad mood kept festering as the time passed. He let out a low, rumbling growl.  _ When is this going to end?  _ Tora had been staring at some pretty interesting  _ nothing, _ absently grinding the straw of his drink between his teeth when he heard Quincey’s boisterous announcement,

“Ah! Did my heart love till now!!?” Tora perked up at Quincey who stood, theatrically clutching his heart with one hand. 

_ Finally.  _

His eyes followed the other hand, outstretched to the arriving party. Tora sat struck dumb with disbelief when a pair of tawny brown eyes met his. 

_ Fuck.  _

“Oh, hi Tora.”

“Hey, kid.” Tora’s heart pittered, his mouth feeling very sticky and dry. A few beats bopped between them. Poppy’s lilac-haired friend leapt in to fill the awkward void, 

“Ah so THIS is Tora!” She extended a hand,

“Nice to meet you!” Tora took her hand for a brief shake but said nothing, his eyes stuck to Poppy’s. The tension was palpable, almost painful and Erdene knew she had to rescue her shy friend from herself,

“Let’s get this party started!” She corralled Poppy into the booth with a not-so-subtle nudge and plopped down next to her. Now Poppy sat with Erdene, who started chatting with Quincey, on her right and Tora, who only seemed to be looking when she wasn’t, on her left. She wondered how slowly time could move. 

Well, the torturous minutes dragged on and on, punctuated with stolen glances. Their flashy companions jabbered incessantly about God-knows-what but it was the silence Tora and Poppy shared that was truly deafening. After what seemed like an eternity of standing in a shower with your socks on, Poppy cleared her throat and spoke. 

Tora squinted.  _ What did she say?  _ The atmosphere was killing any chance of a quiet heart-to-heart. 

“What!?” He shouted. Her eyes flitted up to his. With a gulp she tried again, a little louder, but the music drowned her out, taunting them with its erratic volume. Tora shook his head.  _ Shit I really  _ **_must_ ** _ be going deaf.  _

“What!?” He shouted again. Poppy huffed and then shockingly downed her  _ entire drink _ . She grimaced on the final swallow and took a bracing breath. As she opened her mouth to speak, the music abruptly stopped, but her words did not, 

“ARE YOU AVOID-ing...avoiding....me?” She trailed off to an almost whisper. Horrified, she turned to see her friends staring at her with wide, sympathetic eyes. The next song began and the building shook with each throbbing beat. But now Poppy’s body hummed with an entirely different sensation and she wasn’t sure if it was humiliation or the alcohol. 

Quincey clapped his hands, “Well I, for one, need another drink!” He turned to Erdene, “Would you lovely ladies be so kind as to order another round for us? You can just put it on my tab!” Erdene nodded enthusiastically, jumping at the opportunity to ease the tension with distance and free drinks. She reached for Poppy’s hand as she stood, 

“Come on, babe, let’s get topped off.” Poppy silently followed her friend, peeking back over her shoulder at Tora, who was blatantly staring. 

Tora felt a perfectly manicured hand smack his shoulder. He shrugged when he saw Quincey’s disapproving glare,

“What?”

Following the girls’ return, the crew quickly started to crumble and Tora knew it was time to play Mom and cut everyone off, much to their collective chagrin. Now he knew that The Princess was not very  _ reserved _ when it came to alcohol and often required a babysitter. He did  _ not _ ; however, expect Poppy to rapidly dissolve into a sloppy and surprisingly grabby mess after only two _.  _ Fucking. Drinks. Thankfully, Erdene’s sister had come to get her so Tora only had to deal with dumb and dumber, which proved to be much,  _ much  _ harder than he expected. 

The two somehow kept spurring each other on like gasoline and fire, and Tora found himself chasing them both down on more than one occasion. Breathless after the last game of catchmeifyoucan, Tora eventually got both of them in the car. He slammed the door shut with a  _ clunk _ of fed-up finality, got in and sped off. 

Once  _ His Royal majesty  _ had been fed and tucked in, Tora returned to the car to see that Poppy had monopolized on the space Quincey once occupied.

_ One down, one to go.  _

The tires crunched on the cracked asphalt as the car came to a stop. Tora flicked his half-smoked cigarette out the window and sighed. Jaunting around to the opposite side, he opened the door unceremoniously and stared down at the puddle that was Poppy. He looked up at the sky, an unspoken plea to whomever may be watching but all that he saw were the few stars visible within city limits, laughing at his plight. When he reached across to unbuckle Poppy, she batted weakly at his hand. 

“Pawsss off, Missster!” The warning tone of her voice gravely diminished by the slur. Tora rolled his eyes, slipping strong hands under her. After hoisting her out of the car, he nudged the door shut with his foot. He jostled the woman in his arms, adjusting her for a more stable hold and trudged up the stairs to her apartment. The sight may have looked romantic, almost conjugal in its nature, except for the way Poppy flopped this way and that in wobbly objection. 

“Put me down! I can walk jusss fine!” She cried. 

“Like hell ya can. Now stop squirmin’ before I drop ya.” She did stop, and then as if meeting him anew, she studied him with fuzzy eyes. After a hefty moment she piped up,

“Aha! That’sssit! You look jusstlike my friend, Tora. He’ssall quiet an moody like you too.” She nodded as though she had solved some great mystery. Tora huffed patiently out his nose while her hands clambered over everything they could reach. She was  _ very  _ close and  _ very _ loud. The vein in his forehead throbbed in annoyance. 

“He’sss hand  _ *hic* _ some like you too.” She continued, flicking at his gauged earlobes. He jerked his head away from her intruding fingers, the faintest tinge of pink dusting his cheeks. 

“You know!! He asssked me t-to ssleep! Oh sssorry I’m yelling.” She hiccuped a few more times and started again, screaming under the guise of a whisper. 

“He assskedme to sssleep with him! Can you be-believe it!?” Poppy slid her hands around Tora’s thick neck. He wondered if she could feel his heartbeat fluttering under her delicate fingers. 

“I know he was...he wasssjoking, though.” She paused long enough for Tora to hope she had fallen asleep. He sighed when she started talking  _ again, _

“He triessreally hard to make methhink that he’sss a bad guy, b-but he’sss not. Even though he tooka embarrasssing picturre of me.” Poppy nuzzled tighter to him, now impossibly close. 

_ Christ would ya just stop talkin _ ’ he said only to himself as methodically plodded up the stairs, a mixture of extreme embarrassment and irritation played on his face. 

“Hmmmmm, you smell good.” She pressed her flushed face against his neck and a trail of goosebumps snaked down his arms. Tora gritted his teeth at his situation. Thankfully they had finally arrived at her apartment. He gently set her down, prying her off like a pair of too-tight jeans, 

“Keys.” He demanded. Poppy, oblivious to the context clues, continued her previous monologue,

“No! When he took my pictureee he didn’t evenssay pleassse becaussse he’s RUDE!!” She nearly shouted in his face. He growled in exasperation. 

“No! KEYS!” He enunciated, “Ya know what? Fuck it. Gimme ya purse.” As he made a grab for her bag she feebly clutched it to herself. With one hand he wrenched it from her and quickly produced her garish avocado keychain, the apartment key dangling from the end. 

“No thatsssmine! Help! Sssomeone HE-“ Tora clamped a large hand over her mouth. All in one motion, he unlocked and opened her door before pulling her into the apartment. He released her mouth but before she could shout again, he hefted her onto his shoulder and marched toward her bedroom. Poppy’s head swam, her world now like a shaken snow globe. Her head pounded and her eyelids felt like bricks.

“Where are we going?” She asked, trying in vain to look at him. The urge to protest faded and left her feeling sleepy and stupid. 

“Bedtime, Sweetheart.” 

“Oh...ok. Bed soundssgood.” 

As if she were made of glass, Tora laid her down on the bed before disappearing. Shortly after, he returned with full hands and nudged the drowsy woman before him, 

“Here.” She looked up to find a peanut butter sandwich in her face. She accepted it weakly, taking large grateful bites. While she ate, he made short work of her shoes, setting them next to the closet. With a hand behind her back, he gingerly eased her up, offering a welcome glass of water and some ibuprofen. 

“Hmmm, thank you.” She gulped it and the medicine down almost immediately, droplets of water escaping to dribble down her chin. He swiped it away with his thumb.  _ Cute even when ya are a mess.  _ With a  _ flop  _ she laid back on her bed, eyes already succumbing to the weight of sleep. She placed her small hand on his, and spoke, eyes still closed,

“You reallyare jusstlike my friend, Tora. He’ss a good man.” Tora’s face felt warm. His eyes dropped to the floor and he cleared his throat,

“Ok whatever kid, get some rest.” He tugged at the blanket beneath her and she shifted to free it. He held it up for a moment, an invitation she happily accepted. Her feet slid under the cover and she snuggled down into its warmth as exhaustion set deep into her bones. Her head sunk into the pillow and she finally lost the battle. Tora pulled the covers over her, pausing to brush a stray hair from her face. He watched her for a moment and, knowing she couldn’t see him, smiled. 

“Goodnight, Bobby.”


End file.
